Oxypoda (Oxypoda) flexa, Assing, 2016

Assing, Volker, 2016, New species of Oxypoda from Armenia and Georgia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 48 (2), pp. 1119-1136 : 1120-1124

Oxypoda (Oxypoda) flexa nov.sp.

( Figs 1-8 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: " ARMENIA [9] - S Martuni, Sulema Pass , 39°57'58''N, 45°14'13''E 2340 m, near stream, 29.VI.2016, V. Assing / Holotypus ♂ Oxypoda flexa sp. n. det. V. Assing 2016" ( cAss) . Paratypes: 5♂♂, 8 ♀♀: same data as holotype ( cAss) ; 1♂, 3♀♀: " ARMENIA [9a] - S Martuni, Sulema Pass , 39°57'58''N, 45°14'13''E 2340 m, rocky slope, 29.VI.2016, V. Assing " ( cAss) .

Etymology: The specific epithet is the past participle of the Latin verb flectere (to bend) and alludes to the strongly curved ventral process of the aedeagus in lateral view.

Description: Body length 5.0- 6.5 mm; length of forebody 2.5-2.8 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1 . Coloration: head and pronotum blackish; elytra dark-yellowish with the scutellar region and the postero-lateral portion extensively infuscate; abdomen blackish, with the posterior margins of tergites III-VI narrowly and the posterior portions of tergites VII-VIII more broadly brownish; legs dark-yellowish to pale-brown, with the tarsi yellow and the femora often slightly darker than the tibiae; antennae blackish, sometimes with the basal 1-2 antennomeres slightly paler.

Head ( Fig. 2 ) approximately as long as broad; punctation dense and very fine, indistinct in the pronounced microreticulation; dorsal surface nearly matt. Eyes large, but weakly prominent, as long as, or slightly shorter than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 3 ) 1.6-1.8 mm long and slender; antennomeres IV-V weakly oblong, VI approximately as broad as long, VII-X weakly transverse, X much less than 1.5 times as broad as long, and XI approximately three times as long as broad, nearly as long as the combined length of VIII-X, without sexual dimorphism. Maxillary palpus slender; palpomere III nearly four times as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 2 ) moderately broad, approximately 1.25 times as broad as long and 1.5 times as broad as head, broadest in, or slightly behind middle; punctation fine and dense, more distinct than that of head; interstices with very shallow microreticulation.

Elytra ( Fig. 2 ) approximately as long as pronotum, with very dense, moderately fine, and somewhat asperate punctation; interstices with microreticulation; posterior margin strongly sinuate near postero-lateral angles. Hind wings present. Legs slender; metatibia approximately 0.9 mm long; metatarsus nearly as long as metatibia; metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of metatarsomeres II-IV.

Abdomen gradually tapering posteriad; punctation very dense and fine, as dense on tergite VII as on anterior tergites; tergites III-V with moderately pronounced anterior impressions; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♂: sternite VIII angularly produced posteriorly; median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 4-5 ) 0.6 mm long; ventral process deeply bifid (ventral view) and strongly arched (lateral view); internal sac with distinctly sclerotized structures apically, dorsally with a moderately long flagellum; paramere ( Fig. 6 ) 1.1 mm long, apical lobe slender, less than half as long as basal portion.

♀: sternite VIII broadly convex posteriorly; spermatheca as in Fig. 7.

Comparative notes: Oxypoda flexa is distinguished from all its congeners particularly by the conspicuously arched ventral process of the aedeagus. The spermatheca somewhat resembles that of the syntopic O. vittata and especially that of the nidicolous O. longipes MULSANT & REY, 1861 . From these species, O. flexa is additionally separated as follows:

from O. vittata by a more slender habitus, a relatively smaller pronotum (in relation to the head and elytra), distinctly longer and more massive antennae, distinctly longer and darker legs, and a posteriorly less strongly tapering abdomen;

from O. longipes by a more slender habitus, a relatively smaller pronotum (in relation to the head and elytra), longer and more massive antennae with less slender antennomeres IV-X, slightly longer legs, a posteriorly less strongly tapering abdomen, and slightly less dense and less fine abdominal punctation.

Distribution and natural history: The type locality ( Fig. 8 ) is situated at the Sulema pass, to the south of Martuni, at an altitude of 2340 m. The specimens were sifted from moist roots, soil, and debris near a small stream and from roots and moss on a rocky slope. One specimen of O. vittata was found in the same locality. Some of the type specimens are slightly teneral.

Figures

Figs 1-7: Oxypoda flexa nov.sp.: (1) habitus; (2) forebody; (3) antenna; (4-5) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (6) paramere; (7) spermatheca. Scale bars: 1-2: 1.0 mm; 3: 0.5 mm; 4-6: 0.2 mm; 7: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 8: Type locality of Oxypoda flexa nov.sp.